Effect of various sources and levels of iodine, as well as the kind of diet, on the performance of young laying hens, iodine accumulation in eggs, egg characteristics, and morphotic and biochemical indices in blood.

Young hens were fed over a period of 150 d with 2 kinds of diets including corn and soybean meal or corn, soybean, and rapeseed meal. Diets were enriched with potassium iodide (KI) or potassium iodate (KIO3) as an I source in amounts equal to 1, 3, or 5 mg of supplemented I/kg of feed. The hen performance, egg quality, hematological and morphotic indices in blood, hepatic enzyme activity, lipid indices in blood serum as well as I accumulation in wet egg content were determined. Introduction of 00-variety rapeseed meal into the diet improved the laying rate and feed conversion (P < 0.05); however, better egg weight was noted by feeding the hens with a diet without rapeseed meal. Use of KI as an I source enhanced the egg weight. The increased I level in the diet had an equivocal influence on egg weight, improved the feed conversion per 1 kg of eggs, and decreased the proportion of damaged eggs. The use of corn, soybean, and rapeseed meal in hen diets significantly improved yolk color; similar results were noted after an increase in I levels in the diets after 3 mo of feeding. Hematological indices of hen blood demonstrated significantly higher red blood cells numbers and hemoglobin concentrations with the use of KI. The use of a diet containing rapeseed meal led to an enhancement of hepatic enzyme activity, especially of alkaline phosphatase (P = 0.007). Lipid metabolism indices were not influenced by the kind of diet or the I source or level. The accumulation of I in wet egg content was negatively influenced by the use of a diet containing rapeseed meal (P = 0.000). The application of KI as an I source enhanced (P = 0.003) the accretion of I in eggs after 5 mo of treatment. Enhanced I supply significantly increased accumulation of I in eggs (P = 0.000) after 3 and 5 mo of the experiment from 260 and 310 to 1,011 and 1,256 µg/kg of wet egg content, respectively. ©2014 Poultry Science Association Inc.